Page 86 of The Lovers
“I’ll go pen a note for Pete to take to his lordship, shall I?” James said as he excused himself and left. Mercy perched on the side of the bed and reached out for the baby’s hand, tenderly holding it in her own.
“Oh, he’s just lovely,” she crooned. “Not like ’Arry at all. ’Arry was scrawny and red, but me mam said ’e were beautiful,” Mercy confided in Elise. “Can I ’old ’im?”
“Not yet, Mercy. Maybe in a few days. He’s still very fragile,” Elise said, feeling a bit guilty at denying Mercy this small pleasure.
“I’m not a baby. I know ’ow to handle a newborn,” Mercy protested, but Peg gave her an evil look and ushered her from the room.
“Come now, me lady, ye need to rest. Let me take the child. I’ll look after ’im until ye wake,” the midwife offered as she accepted the bundle from Elise and sat down by the hearth. Maisie quietly went about setting the room to rights. She wiped down the chair and put another log on the fire to keep the room warm before scooping up the dirty linens and leaving the room.
Elise was exhausted and overwhelmed by the intensity of her emotions. She sank into the pillows and closed her eyes, grateful for a bit of quiet. Her body felt battered, her breasts were swollen and tender, and she was sure that the baby had ripped her open during the birth, but the pain was nothing compared with what it had been only a half hour before, so she tried to relax. As long as she didn’t move, the ache between her legs wasn’t so bad. She thought she might not be able to sleep, but a heavy drowsinesspulled her deeper and deeper into its embrace, and she felt herself floating on a cloud of peace as she finally gave herself up to sleep.
SIXTY-FOUR
DECEMBER 1665
Suffolk, England
Only the front few pews of St. Edmund’s Church were full on the day of the baptism. Edward had been eager to baptize the child right away, but the baby had to be at least a month old, according to the midwife, to be safely taken into town, and Elise had to be churched in order to attend the baptism of her firstborn. Until then, she was considered unclean and couldn’t receive the holy sacraments. Elise thought that she might chafe at being cooped up for a month after the birth, but her body needed to recover, and her fascination with her son kept her fully occupied. The servants thought she’d gone daft, besotted as she was with her baby, but Elise simply basked in the joy of being a new mother and relished being truly needed at last. She’d overheard Mistress Benford expressing the view that this was common enough in peasants, but not in women of higher station who handed off their babies as soon as they were born to be cared for by nursemaids and suckled by a wet nurse. Elise had no such plans, but she feared that Edward might overrule her.
Edward arrived three days after the birth, by which time James was safely out of the way with Mercy. He appeared thinner and older somehow, as if the events of the summer had taken a personal toll on him, but he assured everyone that he was in fine health. Edward strode into the room and looked around until his eyes settled on the cradle in the corner. He approached carefully, as if the baby might unexpectedly pop out, and stood over the cradle, watching the child sleep.
“You are to be congratulated, madam,” Edward said formally to Elise, who hovered behind him, awaiting his reaction to his newborn heir. “You have fulfilled your wifely duty.” Elise was taken aback by Edward’s stiff demeanor but decided to go along with it, hoping to tease him into a better mood.
“So are you, my lord. You have a fine son and heir and are the envy of all,” she said with a smile.
“So I am. So I am,” Edward replied, finally relaxing enough to smile. “What shall we call this little fellow?”
“I assumed you had a name picked out already,” Elise said, hoping that Edward would permit her some input.
“Charles, I think, after His Majesty. The king adores flattery, and having children named after him makes him happy. Charles Edward. We should have him christened at the earliest opportunity.”
“Middle of December, then,” Elise replied. “I will be churched by then, and Charles will be strong enough to be taken out.” She would happily accept the name Edward chose as long as she was allowed to be present at the baptism.
Edward looked irritated but conceded with good grace. “All right, middle of December it is. I shall remain here with you until then. His Majesty was most effusive in his congratulations and has given me leave to stay as long as I like.”
“It’s our pleasure to have you, then,” Elise said with as much cheer as she could muster. She hoped that Edward would return to court and remain there until the christening, but it seemed he was determined to actually play the role of husband and father for a change. She couldn’t imagine that Edward wouldn’t grow bored after a few days, but she had to hold her tongue in check. He was master here, and she had to put on a show of obedience.
“What do you think of your brother, Barbara?” Edward boomed when he saw Barbara in the doorway. She never entered, just stood there, hovering and silent, her blank gaze fixed on the baby as if she couldn’t quite figure out where he’d come from.
Barbara shrugged. “Brother,” she said, but her attention was already on something else. She wandered off, leaving Edward even more annoyed than before.
“Dimwit,” he said under his breath, and Elise prayed that Barbara hadn’t heard that. She wasn’t sure that Barbara would care, but it was still wrong of a father to speak so of his child.
“Have you engaged a wet nurse?” Edward demanded.
“No. I’m nursing him myself.”
“That’s most unseemly. I’ll have Mistress Benford send to the village for a wet nurse. No lady in your position should suckle her own child. It’s base and quite disgusting.”
“Please, Edward. I enjoy it, and it’s not as if anyone sees me. I know virtually no one here, so no one would care. It’s such a pleasure to feed him. He is always hungry and has the most wonderful expression on his face when he’s had enough. It’s almost a smile.”
Edward turned to Elise, his eyebrows comically raised with surprise. “You enjoy it?” he asked, his tone incredulous.
“It’s a most gratifying feeling,” Elise confessed, hoping that Edward wouldn’t persist in hiring a nurse.
“The child seems to be thriving, so you may continue nursing him until we return to London. Then a wet nurse will be engaged, whether you like it or not.”
“Thank you, Edward,” Elise said. They wouldn’t be returning to London for a while yet, and by then Edward might have forgotten his decree. For the moment, Elise had to endureEdward’s presence and accept the separation from James. Not having him nearby made her feel vulnerable and lonely, especially since she couldn’t share her joy of their son with the child’s doting father. She missed Mercy too. Mercy infused the household with good humor and mischief, and without her, the others seemed gloomier and less inclined to laughter.
